Artificial dentures, in whole or in part, are well-known and work effectively. However, in eating certain types of foods, as well as for other reasons, there are now available means for giving the patient permanent non-removable dentures.
Such permanent dentures are provided by fixing implants to the jaw bone and/or sinus bone of the patient. After some time, the bone in effect becomes one with the implants which then serve as posts to which artificial dentures may be permanently secured, as by screws.
In certain patients the bone at the base of the sinus cavity is too thin to anchor the implant, i.e. efforts to drill into the bone and place the implant result in instability of the implant, defeating the intended purpose.
One way of addressing this problem was to peel back the skin covering the sinus bone, surgically cutting through the sinus bone to form a bone flap secured to cartilage, swinging said flap inwardly to form a lateral window opening (bony infracture window), through said opening introducing a mixture of powered fragments of bone chip and adhesive, restoring the flap to its original position and letting the adhesive set. The mass adheres to the sinus bone and, after a long period of time, through chemical and biological means, the bone particles become one with the sinus bone, producing a thickened sinus bone.
Thus there is formed a "new" sinus bone strong enough to receive the implant in essentially conventional manner.
Thus there are two prolonged time intervals before the implant is ready to receive the dentures.